As a Tour leader for Motorrad Tours I attended the annual pre-season Tour Leader training over a 4 day period between Thursday 22nd March and Sunday 25th March.
I left Hull on the Wednesday morning for the 300 mile ride, meeting up with 2 other guys on route (Alf and Andy) at Hartshead services on the M62. I was riding my GSA, Alf was on his 1200RT and Andy on his GSA.
We followed the motorway system towards Chester before peeling off on to the fantastic roads of North Wales, stopping at the famous Ponderosa Cafe on the Horseshoe Pass for lunch. Although the sun was shining it was still quite cold with temperatures never reaching more than 9 degrees the whole journey and there was still some remnants of snow from the 'Beast from the East' and slush on some of the more minor roads. We eventually reached the training location in the Brecon Beacons around 5pm.
Thursday consisted of First Bike On Scene, (FBOS) training. Unlike most FBOS courses, this was a fully accredited course that gives a 3 year certificated recognition of the training received. The course covered collision scene management, first aid and the all important correct procedure for safe helmet removal.
The following 3 days included a whole host of topics and themes related to the role of being a Tour Leader, all delivered by the company boss, Richard Millington. It also gave the whole Tour Leader Team the chance to have a catch up since the last time we all met in December.
Sunday saw us leave around lunch time and due to time constraints we decided to take the slightly shorter and much quicker motorway route home......although given the number of road closures and diversions, we did wonder if Wales wanted us to stay a bit longer ! I finally arrived home 278 miles later at 6pm.
All in all it was a fantastic 4 days and I am excited about what the company can offer people in terms of world wide tours and in particular my own tours for 2018 which will see me take customers on three tours, 1 to Scotland, 1 to France and 1 further afield to the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Austria.
If you would like to know more about Motorrad Tours and the tours and destinations they offer, please check out their website at;
www.motorrad-tours.com